Content Update
First up on the content front was a call from the Pirate Emporium shopkeepers to take advantage of the Emporium Extravaganza Event. In addition to an accompanying Hidden Gems Sale (swiftly followed by a second June sale to celebrate the three-year anniversary of Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life), all players claiming the free Self High Five Emote were automatically entered into the Extravaganza Raffle, with the entire available content of the Emporium up for grabs as top prize.
With that enticing setup on the line, it was time to dive straight into Season 12 Community Weekend! Filled with free items and Voyages, streaming spoils, picture-perfect poses and, of course, the all-important race to uncover Pop-Up Plunder, the weekend was a blast and a celebration of everything that makes this community what it is. Yes, even the criminals who buried treasure in the spike pits. Especially them.
After that, we were back to our regularly scheduled programming and a monthly content update fresh from the developers’ desks. In addition to a bracing bounty of Emporium stock, June’s update saw the team tweaking and reworking a number of areas to better balance the player experience, including ship speeds, Double Barrel Pistol stats and a clutch of recent Commendations. Be sure to give the full release notes a read if you haven’t already to get all the details.
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News and Features
Even with a myriad of other celebrations taking place throughout the month, we weren’t about to forget that June heralded Pride Month. That meant it was time for an updated profile picture – or not, as the case may be – and a new stylish T-shirt to get your hands on! Our streaming soundtrack, meanwhile, was expanding with the inspirational ‘Blessing of Athena’s Fortune’.
As Season 12 Community Weekend rapidly approached, we spun up a dedicated article to lay out all the details of what players could expect. A while later, once the revelries had wrapped up, we returned to the scene for a detailed look back at what everyone had got up to during the Event and, as always, to question which chaos merchants among you are eating all these Burnt Grubs.
June’s community spirit also extended to another two Community Spotlights! First on the list was a buccaneer famed for his barnacle-based bearing, Fishhook Cook, who walked us through everything from his early start in gaming to a real-life pirate connection. Then, to close out Pride Month, we stopped by to chat with LGBTQIA+ advocate and brilliant Boatswain Div_And_Inc to learn about their work supporting diversity across the seas. And fire breathing. It was a far-reaching conversation.
Videos and Streams
There was a lot of gaming news going around in early June, as the Xbox Games Showcase revealed a range of upcoming titles and updates for the year ahead. With Flameheart’s long-awaited return just around the corner, our own Video team wasn’t about to let the opportunity go by without dropping in a little Season 13 trailer…
Closer to home, another instalment of Sea of Thieves News was due and that meant dragging Drew back in front of the camera to spill the beans about plans for ship speeds. Daryl wasn’t far away either, ready to fill everyone in on the promise of Season 12 Community Weekend plus the latest Emporium and Outpost additions.
Since Community Weekend relied on everyone getting those Sea of Thieves Twitch viewing hours in, the Community team hauled themselves into the Rare Tavern on a Saturday for a stream of their own. Dubbed The Trading Company Tour, it pitted four fabulously chaotic teams against each other in a timed race to earn Emissary value in whatever ways they saw fit. PvP battles? Sneaky trade deals? Desperate pleading for the Kraken to go away? Catch up on all of the above and more as the teams raked in millions for their chosen representatives.
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Social Channels
Accompanying all the Event-based activity in June was a buzz of regular community content: the Community Hub saw two new refreshes, showcasing some incredible fan creations, while keen snappers delighted in two more themes for our trusty #SoTShot contest. For the first, promising pirates posed in tranquil scenes of Island Life, before we dispensed with the sense of serenity and got back to the usual pirate pastime of Grog Guzzling. Cheers!
Not everyone was to be lauded, of course, as we suffered a fishy betrayal, endured the continued trials of unhelpful crewmates and had our naming abilities questioned. Even the sweet comfort of someone else’s loot wasn’t enough to dull our sadness and we turned to collecting Gunpowder Barrels instead. Explosions heal all wounds, or something.
In better news, while we were busy digging through data to uncover everyone’s Community Weekend stats, we also happened to stumble across the pet name rosters. None of the top tens featured the word ‘Devil’, so clearly you’re all doing better than us. Once all the data crunching had worn us out, we had a quick hunt around for the best place to have a sit down, then ended the day with a jolly singalong. Worth it.
And so we reached the end of June! Big things are afoot across the waves and when we next stop by with a round-up, a new Season will have swept through the Sea of Thieves… Until then, however, we must bid you adieu! As always, you can find us in the usual places for regular updates: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, or via the official Forums and Discord. Now we really do have to leave you. We have rocks to sail into.
Previously in 2024:
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2024
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2024
